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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29965875">As the World Evolves Around Us</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/FuzzyTheNarwhal/pseuds/FuzzyTheNarwhal'>FuzzyTheNarwhal</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Hermitcraft RPF, Minecraft (Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Androids, Condiments, Gen, Grumbot gone evil, I'll give warnings for the most severe ones, Jrumbot is a cute child, Kidnapping, Mycelium Resistance, Robot Army, Turf War gone wrong, Typical Video Game Death, blood in most chapters, hep - Freeform</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-04-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-16 02:33:49</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,392</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29965875</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/FuzzyTheNarwhal/pseuds/FuzzyTheNarwhal</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Grumbot has been patiently waiting, but no one ever comes to visit him. Lonely, he contacts Jrumbot and finds out he had been lied to. While he has been trapped in his own reality, everything has changed. Confused and desperate, he turns back to his basic programming.</p><p>And even he isn't able to stop it.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. I Hate To Lie</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Welcome to mai fan fic! This story is basically if Grumbot went evil, and started an ACTUAL war. So there will be blood. In a lot of chapters. Be wary if you’re sensitive, but I WILL be putting warning on the more gruesome parts. Also, some spoilers for the turf war. Enjoy &lt;3!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The wind blew over the grassy hill, making a slight rustling sound. The hill went upward, only to be met with a big white wall, painted with a simple landscape. If you followed the wall up, you'd find it turned into a roof, which connected with a wall on the other side.</p><p>This field was in a large box, locked from the rest of the world. A simulation of perfection.</p><p>Mumbo and Grian stood in front of the giant robot, Mumbo in a suit with a sash and Grian in his red sweater. They had built this small world - a virtual reality - around the bot. Grian nervously inserted a diamond with a note to activate the bot, the paper reading: Mumbo won the race! He pressed the buttons and stepped back. With a few beeping noises, the machine came back to life. The lights in his eyes lit up and he began to whir, processing the message.</p><p>Finally, he smiled. "GRUMBOT'S LIFE HAS MEANING."</p><p>"Yep!" Mumbo replied nervously, "I won, didn't I Grian."</p><p>"Mumbo won!" the builder lied through his teeth, "Good job, Grumbot!"</p><p>The robot simply smiled. He was happier than he had ever been before. All his hard work had payed off! And he fulfilled his life's basic function...</p><p>Grian and Mumbo walked behind the robot to leave out the back.</p><p>"We have completed Grumbot's virtual reality!" the red dressed hermit grinned.</p><p>"Be quiet!" the redstoner hushed, "We can't have him knowing."</p><p>Grian laughed sheepishly and the two walked out, leaving the machine oblivious to the lie.</p>
<hr/><p>Grumbot sat, his TV face resting against his hand. He was bored, and lonely. So <em>especially</em> lonely. At first, his dads had regularly visited, but they had long since stopped. He again played the last memory he had of all of them. He had been so happy, and just thinking about the moment usually cheered him right up, but now, it just didn't. It was like a well worn letter or picture, held so many times it was nearly incomprehensible. The memory was more faint than a dream, faded and blurred. It had lost all meaning, and in fact, made the robot feel even more lonely.</p><p>He sighed. Where had the time gone? It seemed like almost nothing changed, day went to night, night went to day. The landscape hardly differed from that last day, if at all. The machine felt as if he was going crazy. Why had he been left alone? He <em>had</em> fulfilled his purpose, but did that mean they had to leave him? Just <em>abandon</em> him?</p><p>"<em>CALM DOWN GRUMBOT</em>," he thought to himself, "<em>THEY LOVE YOU. YOU KNOW THEY DO. DAD TOLD YOU YOU DID A GOOD JOB, SO YOU DID. THEY'RE PROBABLY JUST BUSY. BUSY. YES...</em>”</p><p>The robot closed his eyes. It was quiet. Night. The stars would be shining overhead, but his cumbersome body made it so he couldn’t look up to see them. He felt trapped. As if in a box, he could only reach about 20 meters around him, and that was it. The machine’s head hadn’t felt clear since before he had a virus installed in him.</p><p>He shuddered at the thought. The “Get Gorgeous” campaign had been installed in him, and it had hurt like nothing else. His mind was warring against itself, conflicting on what to do. When his dads had found him, he was in tears. It just hurt so much, and he couldn’t hardly bear it.</p><p> </p><p>But then it got worse.</p><p> </p><p>He thought he knew pain after that, but he quickly found out he was wrong. Mumbo had tried to fix him, and it worked but, <em>too</em> well. So many thoughts had flooded his mind. Good ones, bad ones, happy ones, sad ones, and more. He questioned everything, but before he could answer any, another one took its place. There was no place for anything in his head, and he broke down.</p><p> </p><p>Literally.</p><p> </p><p>Smoke had risen from his head, and the pain was unbearable. His systems shut off from the stress, and his sight slowly went out, the worried faces of his dad the last thing he saw.</p><p>Grumbot forced the memories out of his mind. They hurt too much to keep up for too long. But this time, he dwelled on them a little longer. They felt, strange, in a way. Different from any he had gained since. He had blamed it on the breakdown before, which was partially true, but the difference just didn’t feel...</p><p> </p><p>Right.</p><p> </p><p>The robot sat up. He would make the most of this. He had hoped for so long that he would have some attention towards him, but he couldn’t just hope. He should take things into his own hands. </p><p>“I’LL MESSAGE JRUM,” he said to no one, wondering why he hadn’t thought of it before.</p><p>He made the connection, created a message, and sent it.</p><p><strong>GRUMBOT</strong>:<em> HEY JRUM, HOW ARE YOU?</em></p><p><strong>JRUMBOT</strong>: <em>Grum! I haven’t heawd you in AGES! I’m gweat, you?</em></p><p><strong>GRUMBOT</strong>: <em>BORED. BORED AND LONELY. NEITHER DAD HAS BEEN AROUND IN AGES.</em></p><p><strong>JRUMBOT</strong>: <em>Reawy? Aw, that’s too bad. I guess I’m lucky I get to see them fwying around all the time.</em></p><p><strong>GRUMBOT</strong>: <em>LUCKY, INDEED! YOU GET TO BE IN THE MIDDLE OF ALL THE MAYOR ACTION.</em></p><p><strong>JRUMBOT</strong>: <em>The mayor action is more youwr stuff, yeah. I’d switch with you for a bit if I could!</em></p><p><strong>GRUMBOT</strong>: <em>THAT WOULD BE FUN! HELP MUMBO WITH HIS WORK AND SUCH.</em></p><p><strong>JRUMBOT</strong>: <em>What do you mean by that?</em></p><p>The robot’s face fell. What did he mean, “what do you mean”? He gulped, and sent another message.</p><p><strong>GRUMBOT</strong>: <em>... WHAT I MEAN IS, I WOULD HELP MUMBO WITH HIS MAYORAL WORK.</em></p><p><strong>JRUMBOT</strong>: <em>... Grum awre you awight?</em></p><p>The machine was confused and nervous. Not knowing what to say, he waited until his brother finished the next message.</p><p><strong>JRUMBOT</strong>: <em>Grum, don’t you know? Scaw is the mayor.</em></p><p>Grumbot broke.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hey hey hey! Another Hermitcraft fan fic! And this one’s about mai child Grumbot (I love that robot boi with all my heart). This is another one I had plans for, but it was barely a framework when I picked it up again, so I could REALLY upgrade it.<br/>I hope you enjoy &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. I Have Been Wronged</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Jrumbot was confused by the silence at the other end of the line. It had been almost five minutes since his brother’s last message, and he was getting worried. What was wrong? All he had said was that Scar was the mayor! Did Grum not know that? Hadn’t their dads told him? He wanted to send another message, but decided against it. If something was wrong, his brother would need to calm down first. So he sat and waited.</p><p>Grumbot’s head was again filled with thoughts. They had lied to him? Why did they lie? Was it something he did? Did he cause them to loose? Is that why they weren’t visiting? Because they felt guilty about lying? Or because he had failed them? He tried to push the thoughts out of his head, but they kept coming. It was too much. He wanted to break out of his own head, reach through his physical self and break free. Find any escape, anything. Any way to stop these ravaging thoughts-.</p><p>
  <strong>Mumbo for Mayor.</strong>
</p><p>The simple words rang through the bot’s head, clearing all the emotions he had been feeling before. The doubts came creeping back, as they do, only to be blocked again.</p><p>
  <strong>Mumbo for Mayor.</strong>
</p><p>It took the machine a moment to figure out what it meant, but it soon realized.</p><p>“<em>It’s my base programming</em>,” he thought, “<em>The very reason I was created</em>.”</p><p>He was still confused though. They had lost the election, how could he follow it?</p><p>
  <strong>Mumbo for Mayor.</strong>
</p><p>Unless, they hadn’t lost. What if it had been set up?</p><p>
  <strong>Mumbo for Mayor.</strong>
</p><p>“<em>It must have been set up</em>,” he thought, “<em>There’s no way we could lose, my plan was perfect</em>.”</p><p>His logic told him he was wrong, that he was lying to himself. But those thoughts were also blocked out by the repeating line in his head. He wanted to let them in, but then the other, terrible doubts would plague him as well. He would just believe it for now. Stop himself from going crazy.</p><p><strong>GRUMBOT</strong>: <em>NO, I DIDN’T KNOW THAT.</em></p><p>Jrumbot sighed, relieved his brother messaged back </p><p><strong>JRUMBOT</strong>: <em>Did they fowget to tell you?</em></p><p><strong>GRUMBOT</strong>: <em>...JRUM, THEY LIED TO ME. THEY TOLD ME DAD WON THE ELECTION.</em></p><p>The bot was surprised. They lied to Grum? Why would they do that? What happened?</p><p><strong>JRUMBOT</strong>: <em>Why would they have done that? Do you know?</em></p><p><strong>GRUMBOT</strong>: <em>I THINK IT WAS STAGED.</em></p><p><strong>JRUMBOT</strong>: <em>Staged? What was staged?</em></p><p><strong>GRUMBOT</strong>: <em>THE ELECTION. IT HAS TO BE.</em></p><p>Jrum was confused. How was it staged? The polls were in a closed booth, and the votes were read out loud.</p><p>But that almost made sense?</p><p><strong>GRUMBOT</strong>: <em>JRUM, I WANT YOU TO HELP ME.</em></p><p><strong>JRUMBOT</strong>: <em>Hewp you?</em></p><p><strong>GRUMBOT</strong>: <em>I NEED HELP GETTING MUMBO ON THE THRONE. WILL YOU HELP ME?</em></p><p><strong>JRUMBOT</strong>: <em>I mean, </em>s<em>uwe! But how?</em></p><p>Grumbot smiled. He was already working on his plan, starting with his brother.</p><p><strong>GRUMBOT</strong>: <em>WELL FIRST, WE NEED TO GET YOU A BODY. A MORE MANEUVERABLE ONE.</em></p><p><strong>JRUMBOT</strong>: <em>Like a smaller one?</em></p><p><strong>GRUMBOT</strong>: <em>YEP, A LITTLE ANDROID BODY, I THINK.</em></p><p><strong>JRUMBOT</strong>: <em>Reawy? What will that be fowr?</em></p><p><strong>GRUMBOT</strong>: <em>SO YOU CAN COME OVER AND HELP ME IN PERSON.</em></p><p>Jrum got excited. Help his brother? He had never even <em>seen</em> him in person! It seemed like such a dream come true, that he ignored the questionable reason.</p><p>Grumbot smiled as his brother sent a string of smiley faces and happy cheers in reply. He had already started making the droid base for his brother, and a plan was forming in his mind. The threads were weaving together to form a plot worthy of being executed. He worked fast, and in about an hour, he had a complete body.</p><p><strong>GRUMBOT</strong>: <em>IT’S FINISHED, JRUM!</em></p><p><strong>JRUMBOT</strong>: <em>Already?</em></p><p><strong>GRUMBOT</strong>: <em>YEP, IT’S FINISHED. YOU’LL HAVE TO UPLOAD YOUR PROGRAMS INTO IT THOUGH, SO YOU WON’T BE ABLE TO GO BACK. ARE YOU SURE?</em></p><p><strong>JRUMBOT</strong>: <em>Um... OK! I’m ready!</em></p><p>Jrumbot felt an opening come up, and he hesitantly slinked into it. It felt strange, as if peeling off one space and fitting into another. Like water being poured from one container into another, fitting into the new shape. Jrum finally slipped completely into the new vessel, letting the old one go. With a twinge of regret from leaving what was basically his first home, he opened his eyes.</p><p>He found himself facing his older brother, being held in his cupped hands. He stood up and looked at himself. He had small, metal hands with four fingers. He looked down and saw his metal feet, and a panel on his chest. His happiness growing, he looked up into his brother’s face. Grum was smiling at him, and Jrum saw the reflection of his little TV head and a blue bobble on the antenna. His euphoria bubbled over, and he was unable to contain his happiness.</p><p>“I’m so <em>cute</em>!” he yelled out ecstatically, grinning like the child he was.</p><p>Grumbot nodded. “HELLO JRUMBOT! GLAD TO SEE YOU IN PERSON!”</p><p>Jrumbot squealed. “Oh my gosh oh my gosh thank you <em>sooo</em> much!”</p><p>The droid jumped up and hugged his brother’s face, surprising Grum.</p><p>“I MEAN... IT’S JUST WHAT I <em>HAD</em> TO DO...” the machine blushed.</p><p>“I still love it!” Jrum yelled, jumping from Grumbot’s hands as he was lowered to the ground, “I can’t <em>wait</em> to help!”</p><p>Grumbot smiled happily as he watched Jrumbot run around, testing out his new body by running and playing. The first part of his plan was complete. He flipped through the plans he had drawn up, and began creating a new droid. He had everything layed out.</p><p>He smiled a strange, unsavory smile.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>OK, so here’s the thing:<br/>I’m going camping today and won’t have internet tomorrow, so I’m posting this today instead.<br/>Anyway, here we introduce little Jrumbot! Tiny Jrum is here, be prepared for cute wholesome times! This will give you a break from all the upcoming trauma.<br/>I’m gonna draw him soon &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Here’s The Plan</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Jrum ran around happily, looking at all the flowers and the model of the shopping district. Grum smiled and looked on at his brother, happy to see him happy. He turned his mind back to the plan. Blueprints of robot’s came up in his head, bigger than Jrumbot, but still small. He was already building a model, but made it slightly bigger than in the original prints. This one would be the leader of the robot army he planned to make. Content with the way the construction was going, he turned to the programming. This was more difficult. For most of it, he copied and pasted his own programming, with a few minor changes, but then he got to the personality. He had to think on this part. How would he shape it? After a moment of pondering over what he needed them to do, he began.</p><p>He made the AI independent, able to make their own decisions during the plan's execution. Logical, so they could make sense of whatever situation they happened to be in. Confident, to be the leader that they needed to be. He thought for a second, then added some sympathy. He didn’t want Jrum to be sad about not being able to make friends with such a blank faced android. Besides, it would help them make decisions for the good of the group, and make them easier to converse with. Finally satisfied with his work, he filled in the main objective: Follow his orders, lead the army, get Mumbo on the diamond throne.</p><p>"Grum! What you up to?" Jrum shouted while running up to his brother, bringing him out of his thoughts.</p><p>Grumbot smiled. "JUST WORKING ON MORE OF THE PLAN."</p><p>"Cool!" the little android grinned, then stopped, confused, "Uh, what exactly <em>is</em> the plan?"</p><p>The mayoral machine stopped. The plan was simple, in word, but he still wasn't sure how he would explain it to his brother. What made it harder, is that he might not like it either.</p><p>He sighed, and explained it the best he could, cutting out parts that might ruin the deal. "WELL, FIRST, I WANT TO MAKE A BUNCH OF ROBOTS TO GO OVER TO THE SHOPPING DISTRICT AND SPY AROUND. GET SOME INFO. AFTER THAT, I-"</p><p>"Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa," Jrum interrupted, "You're making, <em>MORE</em>, robots?"</p><p>"YES?" Grum replied, confused.</p><p>Jrumbot sat in silence, but only for about two seconds, then exploded. "Rweally? REAWWY?! MOWE ROBOTS?! YOU'RE KIDDING, WIGHT? <em>WIGHT</em>?!"</p><p>Grumbot waved his hand. "WHOA, CALM DOWN JRUM! I'M NOT KIDDING, I'M SERIOUS. MORE ROBOTS, YES. I'M ACTIVELY WORKING ON IT."</p><p>Jrum giggled and skipped away, mumbling excitedly. Grum sighed happily, then realized the bot was finished. He set the systems to create mass amounts from the blueprints, and started uploading the AI into the bot. It finished, and he smiled. The machine picked up the android case. They were about a foot taller than Jrum, but with large, white wings on the back, similar to a wasp. The bauble on their head was also white, and the face that would come up on their screen would also be white. He was about to activate it, when he realized he forgot something.</p><p>"<em>A NAME</em>," he thought, "<em>I FORGOT A NAME! WHAT SHOULD I NAME THEM...</em>"</p><p>He sat for a second. They're a robot who helps with mayor stuff... Maybe a name with word play, like Jrum's and his? Something with robot, mayor, android, droid...</p><p>Then he got it. "<em>MAYOROBOT! MAYOR AND ROBOT! IT'S PERFECT!</em>"</p><p>He smiled and giggled. "THEY CAN BE MAYO FOR SHORT, HEH HEH."</p><p>Grum activated the droid, and set them down. After a few seconds, the typical start up noise began, and the bots screen face turned on, marking the start up. The droid stood up, looking at their hands. They then looked up, facing Grum.</p><p>"Are-, are you Grumbot?" the bot asked.</p><p>The mayoral machine nodded assuredly. "YEP! THAT'S ME. AND YOU, ARE MAYO! SHORT FOR MAYOROBOT."</p><p>Mayo again looked at his hands. "Mayo..."</p><p>The bot smiled and looked back up. "I like it! Mayo, it fits!"</p><p>Grumbot sighed, relieved that it worked. He was worried that he'd somehow muck up the coding, and make them rude and insulting. He turned back to the code and quickly clipped some things out, things that wouldn't be needed for basic soldiers. The program would be used for the rest of the robots, the cavalry. The casings were being produced as fast as he could make them, and some were almost ready.</p><p>“What do you want me to do?” Mayo asked, and Grum thought for a moment.</p><p>He smiled and started talking. “WELL, FIRST I NEED TO MAKE MORE BOTS. BUT AFTER, HERE’S THE PLAN...”</p><hr/><p>
  <em>A day later...</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Grian placed mycelium in an arch over the road. The fungus infested ground stretched from one side to the other, growing over the boundary Scar had made around the first patch. He stood back to admire his handiwork, wiping the purple mushrooms on his sweater.</p><p>“It’s grown completely over the road,” he said to himself, grinning, “Those at HEP think they know what they’re dealing with, but they don’t. The resistance is growing, and there is <em>nothing</em> anyone can do to stop it.”</p><p>He turned to head back towards the nether portal, then saw movement from behind some of the topiary the mayor had planted. He walked over, confused, and saw a silver shine reflect off of something.</p><p>“What are you...” he murmured, the shine disappearing when he got closer, “Is someone sneaking around, are you a mob?”</p><p>The foliage shifted again, whatever was behind it was shuffling away. Grian pushed aside the bush, and was met by a silver flash running past him. He stumbled back, startled by the movement. The builder turned around to see what it was, but it was already gone. He sighed and ran his hand through his sandy blonde hair. It must have been some sort of prank he had interrupted. But still, it was strange. It looked too small to be a player, and if it was, they had been completely silent. He shrugs it off, knowing that it’s not his business.</p><p>But still, strange.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Heheh.<br/>Topiary.<br/>Such a weird word for just meaning bushes.</p><p>Sorry for this being a shorter chapter, I had some trouble writing it, plus there was less plot planned for it. Hope you enjoy anyway :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. A War On Two Fronts</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Scar was standing in the town hall, talking with Bdubs. Jellie was curled around the mayor’s legs, asking for affection.</p><p>“And so,” Scar said, picking up the mewing cat, “I have declared <em>war</em> on the mycelium resistance.”</p><p>“Oh, your mayorship is going great! You started a war,” Bdubs replied, his voice riddled with sarcasm.</p><p>The mayor laughed, stroking his cat’s ears gently. “Well, HEP must do what it can against those rascals, and as mayor, it is my duty.”</p><p>“Speaking of your mayoral duty,” Bdubs said as the two walked outside, “What does your mayorship think of all the weird things people have been seeing?”</p><p>Scar frowned. Over the past week, all of the hermits had been seeing the strange occurrences. Strange silver flashes, only there for a second before they were gone. What ever was making the flashes seemed to be about 3 feet tall, and made of metal, given the reflectiveness. They also had some red on them, but no one had gotten a good enough look to see what the red was.</p><p>“Yes... It is rather peculiar...” he said, putting his hand to his chin.</p><p>“Could it be the resistance?” Bdubs asked, “Some of the first sightings were from prime suspects, so could it all be a ploy?”</p><p>“As much as I’d like to think that it’s the mycelium menace,” the mayor sighed, “I don’t think that fits with their objective. Besides, no one here matches the figure of whatever that thing is. Not even you are that short.”</p><p>“EXCUSE ME?!” Bdubs yelled, making Scar laugh, “I’LL HAVE YOU KNOW THAT I’M AN AVERAGE HEIGHT!”</p><p>The mayor continued to laugh before calming down. “Ha! But seriously, I don’t think it could be any of the hermits. Or if it is, it’s probably not a mycelium resistance thing.”</p><p>Bdubs scowled, still salty about Scar’s joke. “Well if it’s not a resistance thing, and it’s not any of the hermits, then what is it?”</p><p>Scar pursed his lips. “If it’s not any of those things, then it’s something for Xisuma to deal with. He’s already looking into it, I believe.”</p><p>“That’s good,” the man in the bandanna nodded, “But anyway, back to the resistance...”</p><p>“Ah yes!” the mayor smiled, “We still have them to deal with...”</p><p>The two continued into the shopping district, laughing and plotting. Blissfully unaware of the danger that was approaching. Blissfully unaware of the fact that they were being watched.</p><p> </p><p>As soon as the hermits were out of sight, a bot stood up. It had been watching from the balcony and had heard the whole conversation. It watched the hermits a little longer, making sure that the conversation they were having wasn’t important. It stood to full height as it logged the situation. It was about 3’ 6”, and was also an android with a TV head. The bauble on its head was black, and its face glowed red, stuck in a perpetual angry glare. It had red wasp wings and was armed to the teeth with different weapons.</p><p>The droid flexed its fingers as it continued the log, claws extending and retracting. It stood with one sword coming out of its other hand, which looked like a holographic circuit board in the shape of a blade. It tapped its toe, a knife extending from its heel, to be used when kicking. All in all, the robot was primed for combat.</p><p>The android finished logging the hermit’s exchange, then noticed that they had been fidgeting. They sighed, <em>why couldn’t they just keep still?</em>, and took off back towards the HQ. It landed on a platform that had just recently been built in the back and went inside. The base had been expanded in the past few days to accommodate the mass amounts of droids that were being made, mostly downward. The bot passed all of the other robots, they had their own things to deal with, and made a beeline towards the leader. They approached them — a little nervously, albeit, they were that type — and cleared their throat with a clank.</p><p>Mayo turned around at the sound to see one of the basic Mayorobots facing him, flexing their fingers nervously. Seeing that they seemed to have something to say, he engaged them.</p><p>“Yes? Is there something I can do for you?”</p><p>The bot shifted shyly, not liking the confrontation. “I, uh, I r-recorded an exchange b-between the, uh, current m-mayor and his-, his assistant.”</p><p>Mayo nodded, and taking note of the droids nerves — he found himself loving the slight differences between each bot, the coding was the same, yet each one’s reactions to situations differed enough to make them seem really alive — he continued to drive the conversation so they wouldn’t get nervous.</p><p>“Here, send it to me, I’ll have a look at it.”</p><p>The android nodded and the leader could feel a trickle of data being edged towards him. He let the zeros and ones slide into his mind, and soon the conversation was clear to him. He mulled over it for a second, then smiled.</p><p>“I should tell Grumbot about this. Thank you for this information, this will be useful.”</p><p>The Mayorobot soldier tensed at the sound of Grumbot’s name, but gave a small smile at the praise.</p><p>“You-, you’re very welcome,” they murmured, “I-, I h-hope to continue to be useful in-, in the f-future.”</p><p>Mayo grinned in return. “I’m sure you will!” And then ran off to tell Grum.</p><p>He reached the upper level — or, the top level, really, the one Grumbot was originally on — and then walked in front of the mayoral machine. Grum was talking with Jrumbot at the time, holding his little brother in his hands as they chatted. He noticed Mayo walking in and put the little android down, who hopped off and ran off somewhere else with a wave. The android leader smiled at the exchange and came forward.</p><p>“DO YOU NEED SOMETHING, MAYO?” Grumbot asked, gesturing outward.</p><p>“No, I don’t need anything,” Mayo shook his head, “But, one of the androids returned with some interesting information. I thought you might like to see it.”</p><p>Grum nodded. “YES, I WOULD VERY MUCH LIKE TO SEE IT, WOULD YOU SEND IT?”</p><p>The leader gave an affirmative thumbs up and began to send over the data. Grumbot received it and looked it over, then smiled wryly.</p><p>“SO THEY’RE STARTING TO NOTICE... GOOD, GOOD. WE WANT THEM TO NOTICE. THEN, WE CAN GET INTO THE MAIN PART OF THE PLAN.”</p><p>“So everything’s going well?” Mayo asked, with Grum grinning in reply.</p><p>“EVERYTHING IS GOING <em>PERFECTLY</em>. COULDN’T BE BETTER. THEY WON’T EXPECT A THING UNTIL IT’S TO LATE.”</p><p>Mayo laughed nervously, then finally spoke his mind. “And... What if things <em>don’t</em> keep following plan?”</p><p>“OH THEY WON’T,” the mayoral machine replied casually, “I’M SURPRISED THINGS HAVE GONE AS WELL AS THEY HAVE, HONESTLY. THINGS <em>WILL</em> GO WRONG, AND WE’LL HAVE TO SHIFT THE PLAN FOR THAT. BUT ALL IN ALL, I’M PREPARED FOR ANYTHING.”</p><p> </p><p>The two began laughing, how could they not, with how well things were going?</p><p> </p><p>Well, things were going well for <em>them</em>.</p><p> </p><p>Xisuma glanced around the shopping district. He had seen more of the silver flashes than he cared to count. The admin rocketed up into the sky, using his elytra to glide around. He scanned for movement or anything strange, when something off to the side caught his eye. He landed on top of the red zone, confused. Was it just him, or did the old Mumbo for Mayor HQ look different? Did it really connect to the sea floor the last time he saw it? He sighed and took note of it. That could just be hermit shenanigans, yes, but it could also be connected to the weird silver figures that had been sighted. But then again, even the figures could be shenanigans.</p><p>X jumped from the roof, gliding down towards the portal. If this was just hermit shenanigans, whoever caused them sure was dedicated. He would have to make an announcement later, say that if anyone was doing this — which was just as likely as it being something different, given the hermits tendencies — that they needed to stop, as this was getting worrying. Pranks were fun until it kept happening, and only got worse when no one knew who the perpetrator was. Hopefully this announcement was all that was needed to stop this, whoever was behind it didn’t even have to reveal themselves, just stop. He hoped they would stop, but his gut told him that this was something beyond pranks.</p><p>That made the admin very nervous.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Late night writing, whoo! Finally managed to write this, I’ve been having trouble for like the past week. I hope it turned out alright, might have some night grammar though cause I’m to lazy to look over it right now :P</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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